Central Asia news

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan sign an economic cooperation treaty

Presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed treaties on economic cooperation in 2008-2010 and advancement of neighborly relations, on October 18.

A joint communique was signed as well. Eight documents in all were signed on day one of the Uzbek president's visit to Turkmenistan. "These documents signify a wholly new level of our dialogue and partnership," President of Turkmenistan Gurbankuly Berdymuhammedov said.

"Pooling the economic potentials and using geopolitical position, partnership between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan serves as a bona fide factor of a stable development of the whole Central Asian region," Berdymuhammedov was quoted as saying at the press conference. Emphasizing "the lack of any discord", the head of Turkmenistan expressed faith in successful fulfillment of the agreements between chambers of commerce and industry and customs services, agreements on border checkpoints, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation programs for 2008-2010.

"We've appraised the existing level of economic cooperation as something wholly unsatisfactory and outlined ways of ensuring a dynamic growth of the trade turnover," President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov said. Karimov added that Berdymuhammedov and he had agreed to arrange national fairs and Culture Days in Ashkhabad and Tashkent. The visitor seemed particularly interested in transit of goods and commodities by Turkmen railroads terminating in the Caspian ports.

"Our negotiations were straightforward, confidential, and constructive, and that's highly important," the Uzbek president said. He invited his Turkmen counterpart to pay a state visit to Uzbekistan.

Berdymuhammedov signed a decree making the visiting Uzbek president People's Honored Elder.